Don’t Submit Your MBA Applications Until You Read This

MBA Round One submission dates are upon us. Before you hit “submit,” be sure you’ve avoided some of the most common mistakes applicants make and built your strongest case for the admissions committee.

• Confirm the time (including the time zone) by which you need to submit your application. If you do not submit by the designated time, many schools will move your application to the next round. 

• Read through the entirety of your application. Is it clear why you are pursuing an MBA now? Did you show, through experiences from your life, your abilities in innovation, leadership, and teamwork? Have you highlighted what makes you unique as an applicant, and how you will contribute to your class? 

• Think carefully about any “red flags” that may exist in your application. Did you adequately address any gaps in your work experience or low grades in your transcript? Don’t leave the admissions committee wondering about your MBA readiness. Use the optional essay to explain why certain actions and/or results are not indicative of your abilities. 

• Make sure that each application is customized for that school. Did you address, with specifics, why this MBA program is the right one for you? What specific courses, professors, and experiential learning opportunities appeal to you most?  Why?

• Proofread everything. Again. Editing is never complete. 

Now it’s time to hit submit. Congratulations! The first component of the application process is complete, but your work is not quite finished. 

• Prepare for additional actions you’ll need to take. For example, those applying to the Yale SOM will receive access to their video interview questions only after submitting the application. And video responses for Northwestern’s Kellogg are due within 96 hours of submitting the application. 

• Review your various social media profiles. Do they reflect you as a professional? Are they consistent with your application materials? At the very least, ensure that you have an appropriate level of security around who can view your profiles. 

• Start preparing for interviews. Familiarize yourself with the interview process at all of the schools you’ve applied to. Then start brainstorming ideas for anecdotes you can use in your interview responses. We also recommend reading the news on a regular basis to stay informed.  If you’re asked your opinion on a certain issue during an interview, you don’t want to get caught off-guard. 

• If you haven’t yet, send a thank you note to your recommenders and/or any other contacts who supported your application efforts.

Building Your List of Law Schools? Rankings Aren’t the Only Thing to Consider.

With nearly 200 ABA accredited law schools out there, picking 12 to 15 to apply to can feel daunting. We can’t tell you that rankings don’t matter (spoiler alert: sometimes, they really do!), but we can tell you that there is more to consider than just published rankings. Below, we’ve explored some other relevant factors to keep in mind.  

Rankings and Prestige. There’s been a lot of buzz over the past year about the efficacy of rankings. While rankings should not be your only metric, they are relevant. For students who know that they want to pursue a federal judicial clerkship or a position in a big law firm post-graduation (most 2022 graduates entering large law firms went to a school in the US News Top 20), attending a top-ranked law school can provide significant benefit. 

According to ABA data published in Reuters earlier this year, over 20 percent of the 2022 law graduates at Stanford, Yale, and the University of Chicago (top schools in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Schools ranking) obtained federal clerkships upon graduation. But this does not mean that securing such a role would be impossible without having attended a “top” school. Several law schools outside of the top 20, including University of Alabama, Notre Dame, and Baylor, have also placed many students in federal clerkships. 

We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the rankings, paying particular attention to the metrics and outcomes that mean the most to you. They are a productive starting point for further investigation. And be sure to take a look at Princeton Review’s Category-Based Rankings, which can provide helpful insight into the various components of the law school experience (Best Classroom Experience, Best Career Prospects, Best Quality of Life, etc.). 

Career Placement. If you know what type of career you would like to pursue after law school, dig into the employment placement reports of each school you are considering. Where are graduates getting internships and jobs? Which organizations regularly come to campus for on-campus recruiting? Data is also available for easy comparison on the Law School Transparency website. 

Geography. Where you are located plays an important role in your ability to network. If you know where you want to live post-graduation, consider applying to programs that are within that city or state. Similarly, if your goal is to specialize in a particular field (finance, tech, government) or a specific type of law (public service), consider applying to programs that are located near one of the industry’s hubs. This will likely allow you more opportunities to intern, volunteer, or network during the school year. 

Tuition. Depending on your goals and financial situation, including any undergraduate debt you carry, it may make sense to opt for a lower cost in-state program over an elite institution. Either way, calculate the expected cost-benefit of different categories of schools: private versus public as well as in-state versus out-of-state. 

Ten Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement for the Medical School Application

Writing a Personal Statement is a massive undertaking. In a relatively short document, you’re trying to show the admissions committee who you are and what you value, while simultaneously building a case for why you will succeed in medical school and as a physician. It’s a lot. But we can help. 

Below are some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them. 

1. Trying to include everything: You cannot fit every medical experience you've ever had into this essay—and hey, that's why you have Work and Activities. Stick to one or two key experiences that prompted growth and reinforced your interest in medicine. The Personal Statement is about showing depth. 

2. Telling instead of showing: The admissions committee is looking for more than a list of your strengths and traits. Not only is that boring, it is unreliable. A good rule of writing is: “Show, don't tell." Listing off your qualities is meaningless if you're not backing them up with real-life examples. Instead of telling the reader, “I am a good leader because I am diligent and organized,” provide a leadership anecdote that will show you empowering your team. 

   Similarly, don’t tell the school what you will do in the future without showing them why you are capable of achieving such things. We've said it before: Sharing goals works when what comes before it exemplifies your strengths and abilities. More than what you want to do, what you have done tells us who you are.

3. Staying linear: You don’t need the essay to be linear. Imagine your intro paragraph as the opening sequence of a movie—the most thrilling ones start mid-scene. You want to see an action star in action, not waking up to a buzzing alarm clock. Don't save the excitement for many scenes later. Show yourself there, then explain how you got there. 

4. Being uptight: A personal essay is more like journalism than an academic paper. You're telling a story, and this one is about you. You want to sound intelligent and respectful but being a bit colloquial makes you appear confident and relaxed. As if to say, "This is who I am. This is who I plan to become." Boom.

   Also, a profound statement is often a simple one. We've heard more than one med school app reader complain about needing to consult a dictionary because an applicant had been over-consulting a thesaurus. Another reason to write less formally: You're going to interview at these schools. (Hopefully!) If you don't speak at all how you write, they're going to be confused about who you really are. 

5. Getting too poetic: Being a little poetic can show style, but if your point isn't clear, a beautiful turn of phrase is meaningless. One of our mottos is: "Clarity above all things." Leave no room for misinterpretation. The reader needs to see the story how you do. Crisp and untangled writing is also best given the character count limitation and how much you need to share. There is room for imagery but there isn't a lot of room for showiness. 

6. Overusing passive voice: Keep most of your sentences active. Passive voice can minimize your contributions and slow down your essay's momentum. Active sentences move the statement forward. 

   There is flexibility, of course. Some passive sentences aren't slow-going or unnatural. Take the passive "My research has been accepted for an oral presentation at the National Impressive Conference." vs. the active "The National Impressive Conference has accepted my research for an oral presentation." Honestly, both sentences are fine. Neither goes on too long nor is confusing. Both read as a natural way of speaking—the passive one might be a little more natural. 

   There are also times when you'll use passive voice for effect, accuracy, clarity, or flow. Just be mindful of how often you're doing it. 

7. Spouting off clichés: Nothing says, "I don't think outside of the box" quite like the phrase "I think outside of the box." We also read a lot of first drafts that include "puzzle pieces"—skip 'em, they're going to be in a thousand other essays. 

8. Using long quotes: A short conversation you had in an intense circumstance can be illustrative in a Personal Statement. It helps a reader picture the event. But making the point of your essay completely revolve around a long quote of someone else's thoughts about medicine, leadership, integrity, or whatever, makes it their essay, not yours. No literary celebrity, professor, doctor you worked with, or dad is supposed to be the star of this show. 

9. Dwelling on childhood stories: Saying you played doctor as a kid should not feature prominently in your Personal Statement. In fact, we'd skip it: It's not a unique sentiment. Schools don't care how long you've wanted to be a doctor—they care if you have the potential and drive to be one. 

   This doesn't mean that a flashback scene is never relevant. If your mom had cancer when you were eight years old, you grew up fast, and you learned things about the healthcare system and doctor-patient interactions that influenced your medical school goals. That is noteworthy. But you need this essay to focus on your recent impactful experiences. Ones that reinforced your interest in studying medicine and gave you the skills applicable to excelling in a program. 

10. Having too many readers: Having too many readers review your Personal Statement is a common mistake. If you're an Apply Point client, consider asking two people besides your two Apply Point advisors (who work as a team) to read your essays. If you're not working with a consultant, you could ask up to four people to read your work but make that the maximum just so you won't be overwhelmed by input. 

    This is certainly not us saying that you shouldn't have any readers at all. You want eyes or ears on this, especially if they're attached to someone you respect who knows you well. In fact, the top question you should ask them is: "Does this sound like me?" Friends, family members, or a mentor can confirm if your essay gets your personality and best qualities across. That said, send them the edited, polished draft rather than your raw first draft. This way their suggestions and questions won't psych you out because you already have a good idea of what you want to present in your statement. 

    One more note on having too many readers: Never post your essay in an online forum, such as Reddit. Sharing thoughts and advice on the overall application process online with other prospective students is great, but if you post your essay, you'll have too many strangers giving input and be vulnerable to plagiarizers. 

Feeling Stuck Writing your Law School Personal Statement? Here’s How to Move Forward.

You have an excellent academic record, a list of extracurricular activities and internships that showcase your varied interests and abilities, a few willing recommenders, and a list of your dream law schools. What you need now is a personal statement, but you can’t seem to put words to paper. Don’t worry, getting started is the hardest part. 

First, step away from your computer. Before you ever begin drafting text, we recommend that you invest some time in a brainstorm. Take a walk down memory lane and think about the moments that have inspired your path to date. Pay particular attention to those experiences that prompted an evolution in your perspective and reinforced your interest in the study of law, as well as those that could show the reader your intellectual curiosity, integrity, perseverance, and abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. 

Write these stories down using as much detail as possible. This will not only benefit you as you draft your personal statement, but it will also be a great reference as you write additional essays or prepare for interviews. Keep in mind that the stories you will use in your personal statement should go deep rather than wide, which is in contrast to the general overview of your experiences that you will provide in your resume. 

Once you’ve spent time brainstorming and documenting memories, put together an outline for your personal statement. You’ll want to select a few key anecdotes that will show the reader who you are and demonstrate some of the attributes that will help you to succeed in law school and beyond. You’ll also want to consider how the stories you select will work within the broader context of your application. For example, if you’ve majored in history and feel confident one of your history professors will reference the thesis you wrote and group project in which you thrived in his Letter of Recommendation, it may be worthwhile to take a deep dive into the substantive quantitative and analytical work you did for that non-profit organization over the summer. 

Now, you are ready to begin your first draft. Good luck!

Related Blogs:

• Five Qualities that Law School Admissions Committees Look for in Applicants

• Crafting Your Personal Statement: Lessons from Memoir Writing

Top Qualities Business School Admissions Committees are Looking for in Your MBA Application

At Apply Point, we often remind our applicants that MBA programs are looking for individuals, not just resumes. Admissions committees want to understand the full spectrum of experiences that have led you to this point of your life and career, and have informed your future goals. But while you brainstorm, in addition to poignant personal experiences, be sure to keep in mind the key tenets of the business school application: leadership, teamwork, innovation, and integrity. 

Leadership. Throughout your application, you will want to showcase your ability to influence a team in order to accomplish a common goal. And keep in mind that there are many ways to demonstrate effective leadership. You don’t need to be the captain of a sports team or a club president to be an inspirational and persuasive leader. 

In what meaningful experiences did you show your leadership abilities? Did leadership come naturally to you, or did you work to get to this place? (Both things are great!) How did you support your team? Did you encourage collaboration or independence? Did you feel supported by your team? Did you experience any pushback, and how did you handle that if you did? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel? What did you learn that you will incorporate into your leadership style in the future?

Teamwork. Conducting business is a team endeavor. Accordingly, business school is a highly collaborative place where you will spend a lot of your team working together with your classmates. Highlight instances where you have shown humility and elevated the voices of others. 

During what meaningful experiences did you work with a team or collaborate with others successfully? Were you working with people unlike yourself? Was there a struggle for balance in the beginning? Any confusion? What did you appreciate about your team members? How did they influence and impact you and your actions? Did one or two team members step up in a way you admired? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel? Have you had experiences with teams that were unsuccessful? What did you learn (remember: failures can provide great insight too!)?

Innovation. The pace of change in business continues to speed up and business schools are looking for students who demonstrate skills in both critical and creative thinking and problem solving. 

In what meaningful experiences did you utilize critical thinking and problem-solving skills? How did you determine the best course of action? Did you approach something one way at first and then correct yourself? What did you think about these things at the time? What did you learn? How did you feel?

Integrity and a sense of community. Many leading business schools have missions that include educating principled leaders who will make a positive difference in the world. Business schools are, now more than ever, highly-attuned to applicants’ integrity and sense of civic responsibility. 

In what meaningful experiences did you elevate a community that you were a part of? What effect did you have on others? What effect did they have on you? What have you learned about finding common ground with those who are different from you?  What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel? 

Perspectives on Leadership: Columbia Business School Professor Recommends New Leadership Paradigm

This piece is the first in a series, which will explore different perspectives on leadership. As an MBA applicant, showing the reader your leadership abilities and potential through personal narrative is essential. We hope this series will inform and inspire you.

In a Financial Times article, Hitendra Wadhwa, a professor at Columbia Business School, calls for a “serious overhaul” in leadership. Pointing to a variety of recent failed leadership moments, including Boris Johnson’s government, Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition, and the turmoil surrounding the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and then Credit Suisse, Wadhwa notes that it's time to reconsider how we view leadership. 

Our current practice is to define leadership as an ever-expanding list of competencies. But Wadhwa points out that there is no “silver bullet” for successful leadership. And, after compiling a database of more than 1,000 moments of “exemplary leadership,” Wadhwa contends that we need a new paradigm. First, he says, we need to reframe leadership, then reconstruct it, then redesign how we teach it. 

First, let’s examine the reframe. Wadhwa discusses the importance of creating a culture where diverse voices, representing an array of experiences and knowledge, are comfortable speaking up. To do this, he says, an organization must cultivate an environment where leadership is “an inner choice” rather than a job title, and people with knowledge feel able and driven to share it. 

Now, the reconstruction. Forget the list of competencies. Wadhwa’s view is that leadership is about something deeper. He says leaders must find the ability to access their “inner core,” the place where they are at their most high-functioning, where they can access peak levels of resilience, optimism, creativity, and relatability. And then, a leader must get their team members to that place as well. Leadership is about moving from a group of individuals with various motivations to a team committed to a shared goal. To do this, Wadhwa suggests one must “tap into five core energies: purpose (commitment to a cause); wisdom (calm, receptive to truth); growth (curious, open to growing); love (connected with their team and those they serve); and self-realization (centered in a joyful spirit).” 

And finally, the redesign. While leadership comes from practice, Wadhwa does share the approach he recommends to the executives he coaches. “First, prior to a big meeting, you pause and take time to access your “inner core” and consider how you will encourage others to do the same.” Strategies he named to do this include: Creating a positive intention for the meeting, taking time to recenter yourself, and visualizing actions that will promote a positive and productive energy within the group. Wadhwa reports that Executives who use this technique report a “threefold gain in their ability to meet their goal and in how [favorably] others respond.” 

“To develop a new generation of leaders, we should not keep adding new arrows to executives’ quivers while far from the battlefield. We should instead guide them on how to hold the bow steady and concentrate on the target in front of them, right in the midst of battle,” Wadhwa writes.

MBA Program Announcements Roundup

We’ve rounded up and summarized this summer’s MBA program announcements below.

• Stanford’s GSB has partnered with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability to launch an “Ecopreneurship” program. This program is designed to support sustainability entrepreneurs by providing mentorship and coaching to help students to secure related internships and fellowships, gain comfort in scaling business ideas, and access venture funding. “The Stanford Ecopreneurship program will support a new generation of sustainability leaders and problem solvers in launching new solutions to the climate crisis,” Marc Tessler, Stanford’s President, wrote.  

  Find more information on Stanford’s “Ecopreneurship” program here. 

• Yale’s SOM announced a new two-year dual-degree program combining its full-time MBA with the STEM-eligible Master of Asset Management program. This program will start with the MBA core curriculum and continue, in the second year, with the asset management curriculum. The STEM designation will allow international students hoping to work in the U.S. post-graduation additional time to find a role. Applications to the joint MBA/MMS open this month. Admissions decisions for the two programs are made independently and prospective students must be accepted into both programs. Students can apply to both programs prior to starting, or MBA students can apply for the MMS program during their first year. 

  Find more information on Yale SOM’s new dual degree program here. 

• Beginning in the Fall of 2024, University of Chicago Booth will offer a 10-month Master in Management program designed for recent college graduates. The program begins with a two-week bootcamp to build foundational skills in accounting, business, statistics, and economics. Students will then turn to job search strategy, which will include networking and storytelling. “We are excited to debut Chicago Booth’s one-year Master in Management, the school’s first new degree program in 88 years,” said Madhav Rajan, Dean of Chicago Booth and the George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. “We look forward to introducing foundational business skills to a new generation of Booth students, enhancing their impact in that first job and beyond.”

  Find more information on Booth’s new degree program here. 

• Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper and ESSEC Business School are teaming up to launch a dual-degree, international Master’s program starting in the Fall of 2024. Participants will earn a Master in Management from ESSEC (France) and a STEM designated Master in Business Analytics from Tepper. The two-year program will host students at both campuses, Pittsburgh and Cergy, a suburb of Paris, for one academic year each and students will participate in a summer internship. The STEM designation will allow international students hoping to work in the U.S. post-graduation additional time to find a role. "The partnership between the Tepper School of Business and ESSEC is a transformative step forward in shaping the future of business education," said Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, Dean of Carnegie Mellon Tepper and the Richard P. Simmons Professor of Finance. "By joining forces, we will position our students for a truly global experience that prepares them to navigate the complexities of an interconnected world."

  Find more information on Tepper and ESSEC’s new program here.

Culinary Course Offerings in Medical Schools Grow

Last April, when Yale Medical School, in partnership with the Yale New Haven Health System, opened the doors to the new Digestive Health Center in North Haven, it included the Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen. This kitchen has become the home for one of the medical school’s newest courses: Defining “Healthy”: Culinary Medicine for Chronic Disease Prevention. 

The course, co-taught by Nate Wood, MD, and Max Goldstein, the lead dietitian chef, integrates instruction in nutrition, cooking, and evidence-based science. Wood and Goldstein work with students to identify the health-promoting components of evidence-based diets and gain an understanding of how diet impacts disease. And students do all the cooking. 

Wood said that the motivation for the course stemmed from the knowledge gaps he saw between dietetics, medicine, and cooking. Dieticians know how to plan for a healthy diet but not necessarily how to cook. Chefs have the skills to make a meal but typically don’t receive training in nutrition. And physicians, who combat diseases brought on by a poor diet, often serve as a first point of contact for people interested in making better choices. 

“Food is a problem, but it can also be a solution, especially if we can bridge the gap among physicians, dietitians, chefs, and patients. Culinary medicine is not only vital to patient care, but it can also provide necessary nutrition education for students, medical trainees, and health care professionals,” Wood said.

Yale is not the only school to provide instruction in culinary medicine. The first training kitchen, the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University’s School of Medicine, opened in 2012 and the number of programs offering such courses continues to grow. The Health Meets Food culinary medicine curriculum has now been integrated into 33 medical schools, as well as some residency and nursing programs. 

Proctoring Issues Cause Significant Delays in Online LSAT Exam

For the first time, over the weekend, LSAT examinees had the option to take the exam either in-person at a test center or online. Most, 61 percent, opted to take the test online and, unfortunately, it did not go well. 

Test-takers experienced significant delays while attempting to access the exam online on Friday and Saturday, which the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) explained were due to problems with the virtual proctoring system. Mark Murray, Council Spokesman, estimated that “hundreds and hundreds” of examinees were affected, although he did not yet have access to official numbers. This was the first online exam proctored by vendor Prometric.  

Kevin Milne, an examinee, shared his experience via Reuters. After logging into the LSAT on Saturday from his home, Milne waited 90 minutes for the online proctor to start his exam. He then finished the three-hour exam, two hours later than expected. And he had to stay in test-taking position for that entire time. “I was so emotionally and mentally exhausted by the last section that it was pretty hard to focus, but I think I might have done okay still,” Milne said. 

LSAC issued an apology to test takers, said they are working alongside new vendor Prometric to correct issues, and offered affected examinees the option to retake the exam for free this weekend, August 19th and 20th, either remotely or in-person. Additionally, test takers have the option to reschedule another test at no charge, through June of next year. 

Class of 2022 Law Grads “Shatter” Employment and Salary Records

One year after the legal job market for the Class of 2021 was named “one of the strongest on record,” a report from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) details record-breaking employment for 2022 law grads.

For the Class of 2022, the overall employment rate increased to 92.1 percent, the highest since the Class of 1987 (92.2 percent). The vast majority of graduates, 79.9 percent, obtained “bar passage required/anticipated” jobs, which is the highest since 2001, when the NALP started to use the current job classifications. Graduates also garnered higher pay. The national median salary ticked up to a record $85,000 from 2021 graduates’ median $80,000. And 2022 graduates reported feeling content with their jobs, with a record low of 7.8 percent currently looking for a new job.   

The number of graduates entering private practice increased by one percentage point from the Class of 2021 to 58.0 percent, the highest in the last 20 years. And their median salary in private practice increased to $150,000, a 14.1 percent increase from that received by 2021 graduates. At the biggest firms (more than 500 lawyers), the median salary rose to $215,000. 

The percentage of 2022 graduates entering into public service (30.7 percent) also increased slightly from the Class of 2021 (30.5 percent). This increase was driven by those entering jobs in government and public interest. Judicial clerkship positions declined slightly from 10.7 percent to 10.1 percent. 

The report also identified a trend away from law school graduates entering business, which has historically employed the second highest number after private practice. In 2019, a shift in graduates away from business started to occur, and it continued among 2022 graduates. Just 9.8 percent of the Class of 2022 entered into business, making it the lowest since 1992. 

More Medical Schools Reduce Debt-Burden on Students

According to a Medscape report, 11 medical schools in the last five years have eliminated or reduced tuition. The University of Houston waived tuition for its first class of students. And other programs, like the Yale School of Medicine, are demonstrating a longer-term commitment. The school recently announced that a large donor gift will ensure that all medical students with demonstrated financial need will take on no more than $10,000 in loans. 

On average, medical school tuition has increased by $1500 a year since 2015, which has significantly outpaced inflation. And the majority of students, almost three-quarters, take out loans to pay for its cost. Students bear an average debt burden of $200,000 to $215,000, although about 14 percent have loans worth more than $300,000. This is particularly noteworthy because tuition actually makes up a small percentage of schools’ operating budgets. While it varies between programs, at NYU Grossman, prior to it becoming tuition-free, tuition comprised just 0.25 percent of the budget. Via Medscape, Daniel Barron, MD, and a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, argued that most schools could cut tuition by belt-tightening and redirecting some existing funds. 

"Tuition can't keep rising without having unintended consequences. The resulting debt is putting a massive amount of pressure on future generations of physicians," said Robert Pearl, MD, and a professor at Stanford’s School of Medicine told Medscape.  

Below, we’ve compiled a list of schools that have created programs to reduce or waive tuition. The Education Data Initiative also provides a complete list of average costs for resident and non-resident attendees at the 193 accredited medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic). 

Schools With Eliminated or Reduced Tuition:

New York University Grossman School of Medicine: Provides full tuition for all admitted students, as well as student health insurance

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM): Provides full tuition and select administrative fees for all admitted students

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: Offers the Vagelos Scholarship Program, which will meet 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial need

Weill Cornell School of Medicine: Offers need-based financial aid under a financial program that offers full-ride grants (debt-free) instead of loans

Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai :The Enhanced Scholarship Initiative (ESI) allows qualifying (financial need-based) medical students to graduate with a maximum total debt of $75,000.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis: Considers all admitted first-year students for a full or partial tuition scholarship for all four years of medical school based on need and/or merit (or a combination) 

Stanford School of Medicine: Provides scholarship funding to eliminate medical school debt for qualified students with demonstrated financial need

Geisinger Commonwealth Medical School: The Geisinger Primary Care Scholars Program provides debt-free medical school and living assistance to medical students who commit to work within primary care at the health system after graduating.

NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine: Provides full tuition, student health insurance, and offers debt-free scholarships to qualifying students for housing, food, books, and other miscellaneous expenses

Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine: Offers students, entering between 2019-2024, the school’s first five cohorts, a scholarship covering 100 percent of tuition for all four years of medical school

Yale School of Medicine: Beginning with the 2023–2024 academic year, Yale medical students with demonstrated financial need will not need to take out more than $10,000 in loans per year.

Standardized Testing Continues to Evolve in MBA Admissions

In the world of MBA Admissions, standardized testing has become a lot less, well, standard. Admissions committees used to accept only the GMAT and/or GRE, but more options have opened up in the post-pandemic era including test waivers for past academic or professional performance, and a wider range of accepted tests including the Executive Assessment (EA) and even the MCAT or LSAT. 

The EA is a 90-minute exam, requires minimal preparation, and has historically been used for EMBA admissions. It is a good choice for applicants to full-time MBA programs who have already demonstrated strong quantitative skills through prior academic or professional experiences Today, even some elite schools such as Columbia, Duke Fuqua, and Michigan Ross are allowing students to submit EA scores in lieu of GRE and GMAT scores. 

In addition to the EA, some schools like Virginia’s Darden and NYU Stern are accepting LSAT, MCAT, and Dental Admission Test (DAT) scores. Others, like Georgetown McDonough, will allow applicants to submit expired GRE and GMAT scores. And many top ranked MBA programs are open to accepting the scores from the shorter versions of the GRE and GMAT exams. Chicago Booth, Stanford GSB, and Northwestern Kellogg will all allow applicants to submit GMAT Focus results this year. 

Harvard Business School is one of the few schools that have pointedly said they will not accept GMAT Focus scores for 2023-2024 admissions. And Wharton will accept GMAT Focus test scores dated January 31, 2024 or later, when the GMAT Focus has been merged with the legacy GMAT. 

The chart below shows the standardized tests that each school’s full-time two-year MBA program will accept in 2023-2024. Please note that some schools have not yet commented on when they will start to accept GMAT Focus scores. 

Study Finds Law Students Overconfident in Their Expected Performance

A recently published University of Illinois Law Review study found that almost all incoming law students expected to rank within the top half of the class after their first year. The findings are based on a survey given between 2014 and 2019 to students who were entering the University of Illinois law school. The students were asked to predict their class rank after the first year of law school, and the study’s authors compared the predictions to the student’s actual rank. 

Students showed great optimism: 95 percent of the students surveyed predicted that they would end up in the top half of their class. And over 22 percent thought that they would be in the top 10 percent. Interestingly enough, the students who did end up landing within the top quartile of the class tended to underestimate their eventual ranking, while those who fell within the bottom quartile had significantly overestimated their final performance. 

The study’s authors, University of Illinois law professor, Jennifer Robbennolt, and University of Illinois law graduate, Sam Barder, expected that students would overestimate their performance because of past studies on overconfidence in professional and academic environments. However, Robbennolt noted that a few things about this study made the overestimation more significant. For one, the students took the survey prior to starting classes and had very little information on either the coursework and/or their classmates. And, many of the students likely enjoyed previous academic success and were top performers in college. 

“They are coming into a totally new environment,” Robbennolt said. “They don’t have much information about the tasks they will be asked to do and the kind of thinking they will be asked to do. They don’t know much about their peers.”

The authors noted that the study is important because it highlights how law schools might provide incoming students with more information on what’s ahead, which may help them to set reasonable expectations. 

Stanford Medical School Offers New Course on Finding Meaning and Balance in Medicine

A new course at Stanford’s Medical School, “Meaning in Medicine: Staying Connected to What Matters Most,” seeks to “immunize” students from future physician burnout by inspiring them to explore and connect with their personal motivations for entering medicine. 

Examples of weekly topics include: What Wellness Means to You, Spirituality and Faith in Medical Care, and Grief and Suffering. And mini lectures cover topics such as how to manage conversations with patients facing serious illness, distinguishing values from goals and preferences, and finding mentors. Each of the weekly sessions also leave space for open dialogue where students can entertain questions of faith, empathy, and what it means to care for a patient while also caring for themselves and their own wellbeing.

The course, developed by Henry Bair, a resident physician and Stanford Med alum, and Tyler Johnson, an oncologist at Stanford Health Care, was inspired by a podcast the two host together. The podcast, A Doctor’s Art, explores themes that seek to reconnect the practice of medicine to its mission, which all too often gets lost in the day-to-day burdens of administration, electronic health records, staffing, and corporatization. 

The response to the course has been overwhelming. Nearly a quarter of Stanford’s pre-clinical students have expressed an interest in taking the course before and just after it opened. And, at the conclusion of the course, every student who participated said that they would recommend the course to others. 

“In medicine, where science converges with art, suffering meets solace, and the human spirit confronts the limits of the body, it is increasingly easy to lose sight of our purpose and of ourselves. But our students have shown an eagerness to cherish their personal, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual motives for entering the profession; this eagerness, in turn, instills the courage and wisdom to seek balance and meaning. All medical trainees ought to be afforded the opportunity to do so, for this, ultimately, is just about the most effective way to individually prepare future clinicians against burnout,” Bair and Johnson wrote in an article for MedPage Today.

GMAC Survey Finds that Corporate Employers Seek MBAs with Communication, Strategy, and Data Analysis Skills

According to the latest GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey, competency in communication, strategy, and data analysis are the most in-demand skills for MBA recruits. And corporate recruiters predict they will only grow in importance over the next five years. The survey includes responses from 1,028 respondents in 34 countries. Over half of the respondents come from Fortune 500 companies.

Within the survey, respondents who named communication and technology as important future skills were also asked to provide detail on the specific areas of expertise that they predict will grow in importance. Within communication, 81 percent of employers selected cross-cultural competence, 77 percent chose multilingualism, and 75 percent chose active listening. Within technology, 80 percent of employers selected Web3/Blockchain/VR, 75 percent selected cloud-based technology, and 74 percent selected data visualization, AI and machine learning, and statistical analysis.

The survey also asked employers to assess graduates’ preparedness in these skills. Among U.S.-based employers, fewer than half agreed that graduates are well or adequately prepared in the areas of active listening, negotiating, nonverbal communication, multilingualism, cross-cultural competence, and conflict resolution. While U.S. companies were slightly more positive on graduates’ skills in technology, they still registered lower than other regions. Only 54 percent of U.S. employers agreed that graduates are adequately prepared, compared to 65 percent globally. 

Study Finds that Most 2019 Law School Graduates are Satisfied with Their Jobs

Almost half, 47 percent, of lawyers from the Class of 2019 report that they are “extremely satisfied” with their current employment. This is according to the recently published Law School Alumni Employment and Satisfaction, a joint study by the NALP and NALP Foundation. Another 38 percent of the Class of 2019 reported that they feel “somewhat satisfied” with their employment. And a record low, 13 percent of respondents, reported that they are actively seeking a new job. 

The annual study collects information from law school graduates three years after graduation to learn more about their employment and satisfaction. This year’s data included 1,927 graduates from 42 U.S. law schools. The high rate of satisfaction for the Class of 2019 compares favorably to last year’s report (which included 2018 graduates), where only 42 percent reported being “extremely satisfied.” 

Respondents’ reports of high satisfaction, however, may disguise the high mobility they have experienced in the few years since departing law school. Almost three-quarters, 71 percent, reported having had two or more sequential positions since graduation. Among the group who had more than one position since law school, most switched jobs for better compensation/bonuses (62 percent) or because of “attitude ‘fit’ concerns” (42 percent). School debt continues to impact their choice of job and employment sector, as well as other life decisions, including purchasing a home and having children. 

Educators from University of Michigan’s Medical School Push for AI Training in the Medical School Curriculum

A group of educators and researchers from University of Michigan’s Medical School called for integrating AI and machine learning into the medical school curriculum in a recent Cell Reports Medicine article. They claimed that AI and its usage is relevant to nearly all areas of clinical practice and that current medical school graduates are left “under prepared” to interface effectively with these technologies. 

Two of the article’s authors, Erkin Ötleş, a machine learning researcher and current medical and Ph.D. Student at the University of Michigan, and Jim Woolliscroft, a former Michigan Medical School dean, followed up on these ideas in an interview in Stat Magazine.

Ötleş expressed concern about medical providers who use AI systems without the understanding needed to ask questions and validate the output, as this can lead to unchecked system errors or biases that cause harm. “We’re going to be at a point where we’re not going to be able to catch up and be able to call out the technology defects or flaws,” Ötleş said. “Without being armed with that set of foundational knowledge into how these things work, we’re going to be at a disadvantage.”

Ötleş and Woolliscroft also described the current training in AI and machine learning in medical school as predominantly student-driven. Interested students are mostly left to independently seek out additional degrees, courses, or electives as there is currently no systemic approach to teach medical students about AI in an integrated and meaningful way. “Medical students don’t know about this stuff, and they need to see it as basic as pharmacology and physiology. Already, machine learning algorithms, and more generally AI, are essentially ubiquitous,” Woolliscroft said.

In Stat Magazine, the authors proposed a “spiral curriculum” for AI, which would introduce and reintroduce AI topics to medical students routinely and within different contexts. Students would start with the basics, then circle back later to learn about AI alongside other specialized knowledge. While neither Ötleş nor Woolliscroft suggested that medical students need to become programmers, they did say that integrating AI into the curriculum will empower medical students to ask validating questions about how the AI works and about the data underlying it. 

“So, when they’re on radiology, they can ask: So this mammogram interpretation, what was it based on? Did it include women from, say, Egypt that have a lot more inflammatory breast cancer? It didn’t. Oh, OK. Well, here in Michigan, we have a lot of people from the Middle East. So is this going to be applicable to this population or not? As they get into all of these different things, they’ll have a foundation that they can plug in these specific examples to fill out the flesh of those bones that have been laid.” Woolliscroft said.

Essay Tips: The SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University

Cornell Johnson has published submission deadlines for their MBA application. If you’re applying to the full-time program, it’s time to get started on your short-answer and essay responses.

Round Application Deadline Initial Notification Final Notification          

Round 1 20 September 2023 03 November 2023 08 December 2023

Round 2 10 January 2024    15 March 2024 05 April 2024

Round 3 10 April 2024         17 May 2024 31 May 2024

“You’ll combine your own strengths with the strengths of those around you. You’ll learn how to create solutions to business challenges—and to other challenges facing the world at large. The reality is that success is never a solo act.”

This statement from Johnson’s website encapsulates their focus on collaboration. Keep this in mind as you approach their application. Of course, you’ll want to show the strengths, experiences, and unique perspectives you can bring to their community, but they are also looking for you to demonstrate humility and discuss your desire to learn from your fellow classmates.

Goals Statement Prompt:

A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout the admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short- and long-term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (350 words maximum):

Immediately post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) [Role] at [Company] within [Industry].

Targeted Job Role:

Target Job Company:

Industry:

In 5–10 years post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) [Role] at [Company] within [Industry].

Targeted Job Role:

Target Job Company:

Industry:

How has your experience prepared and encouraged you to pursue these goals?
State your post-MBA goals in precise language that includes your desired role, company, and industry. Ensure that your short-term goal makes sense as an interim step to your longer-term goal. Then make it clear that, given the specific post-baccalaureate full-time work experiences you’ve had, you will be qualified and able to achieve these goals with an MBA from Johnson.

Impact Essay Prompt:

At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. Taking into consideration your background, how do you intend to make a meaningful impact on an elite MBA community? (350 words maximum)

Show Cornell Johnson’s admissions officers how you will be a valued member of their community by anchoring your response in experiences from your past that will inform and invigorate your plan. Are you a passionate environmentalist who has spent your career in corporate social responsibility and hopes to spearhead a new sustainability case competition for full-time MBA students? Were you part of a years-long organizational behavior research study in undergrad and hope to find a research mentor in that department at Cornell? Did you start a pro-bono consulting group at your current employer, and you’d like to partner with a local organization to offer similar services alongside a group of your Cornell colleagues? In linking your passions and expertise to your proposed contributions, you will demonstrate to the admissions directors that you are the kind of collaborative, community-minded, and determined student they are looking for.

Optional statement: You may use this essay to call attention to items needing clarification and to add additional details to any aspects of your application that do not accurately reflect your potential for success at Johnson. (350 words maximum)

This essay is for additional context around a weak spot in your application. Did you get a C in calculus? Or withdraw from your courses your sophomore year to help a family member? Do you feel that your lackluster GMAT score isn’t indicative of your abilities?

If you are going to address a low grade in an analytical course or a low GMAT score, don’t make excuses. Spend the majority of your word count demonstrating your ability to excel in rigorous academic or professional environments by using specific examples. Provide information on similar classes in which you achieved excellent grades or give details about a professional pursuit that resulted in success.

If you are speaking to a more sensitive situation, perhaps a big mistake or legal issue that impacted your GPA, spend approximately 20 percent of your essay addressing the situation. Then use the remaining 80 percent on the actions you took to improve and what happened as a result. Again, do not make excuses. Simply address the situation, placing the emphasis on what you learned. Everyone makes mistakes. Taking accountability and moving forward demonstrates maturity.

The Writing Process

Begin with a brainstorm. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Document your experiences, positive and negative, that prompted an evolution in your perspective—you know, those “ah-ha!” moments without which you would be a different student, professional, and/or person today. Then, record those experiences that will show the reader your abilities in innovation (critical/creative thinking and problem solving), leadership, and teamwork, as well as those experiences that reinforced your interest in business school. Capture as many details as possible, paying particular attention to what you thought, felt, said, and did in each situation. Your focus should be on adult experiences (from the start of college and later), though stories from your youth could comprise up to 20 percent of this brainstorm.

During your brainstorm, don’t limit yourself by worrying about a cohesive narrative, the quality of your writing, and/or the number/length of your stories. Simply focus on collecting those situations that helped to guide your path to this point and impacted your decision to apply to the Cornell Johnson MBA program.

Craft an outline. Select the key stories you will use to anchor your narratives. Remember that you’ll use your essays to go deep into experiences that demonstrate the traits you want to emphasize.

Write. Keep in mind that you must be showing, not telling the reader who you are. In contrast to your resume, which provides a general overview of your experiences, your essay responses should go deep into a story that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about some of your character traits and abilities. Highlight how you’ve struggled, triumphed, learned, and how these experiences have developed you into the person you are now.

Review. Revise. Repeat. Read your essay aloud noting where you stumble. Make revisions as necessary. Once it reads smoothly, set it down and walk away for at least 24 hours. Then re-read it. Is it you? Is it personal and authentic? You want the reader to see the real person behind the applicant number. While we caution against “oversharing,” being appropriately vulnerable will create connection.

Related:

Essay Tips: Harvard Business School

Essay Tips: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Essay Tips: The Stanford Graduate School of Business

Essay Tips: The Yale School of Management

Essay Tips: Columbia Business School

Essay Tips: Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley

Essay Tips: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Essay Tips: NYU Stern School of Business

Essay Tips: The University of Michigan Ross School of Business

U.S. News Ranks Law Schools for Tuition Support

The cost of law school is a serious component in the school selection process. For the 2022-2023 academic year, according to the U.S. News & World Report, the cost of private law school averaged $52,325. Among public universities (out-of-state), the average came in a bit lower at $40,056, or significantly lower (in-state) at $26,917.

While most students take out loans to pay for law school, many schools also offer tuition support in the form of grants. Recently, U.S. News published a list of the top ten law schools for tuition support (below), based on the percentage of 2022-2023 full-time students who received enough funding in grant money to cover at least half of their tuition. 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $39,800 per year in-state; $49,800 per year out-of-state

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 80%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $35,000

Case Western Reserve University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $58,808 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 80%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $40,000

University of Southern California (Gould)

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $73,998 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 72%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $40,000

University of Dayton

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $37,364 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 72%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $33,000

Gonzaga University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $50,235 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 66%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $24,378

Loyola University Chicago

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $53,156

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 65%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $31,000

DePaul University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $51,132 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 65%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $30,000

Washington and Lee University

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $54,460 per year

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 64%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $35,000

University of California, Irvine

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $54,183 per year in-state; $66,298 per year out-of-state

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 63%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $25,000

William & Mary

• Tuition and fees for full-time students (2022-2023): $38,274 per year in-state; $56,014 per year out-of-state

• Percentage of full-time students who received a grant that covered at least half of their tuition (2022-2023): 61%

• Median grant for full-time students (2022-2023): $25,193

Exploring Careers in Medicine: Podiatry

Many prospective medical students do not realize that podiatrists, physicians and surgeons who treat the foot, ankle, and structures of the leg below the knee, do not attend allopathic or osteopathic medical schools. Rather, these doctors attend a specialized program in podiatric medicine and receive a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree.

Did you know?...

• Podiatric programs cost less than MD and DO programs.

• All podiatric residencies are surgical (as opposed to DO and MD residencies), and the residencies are shorter in length (3 years). Podiatrists can also opt to extend their training and specialize further.

• Podiatric programs, while competitive, tend to have more forgiving admissions requirements (MCAT and GPA), than MD or DO programs. In 2021, the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine (AACPM) reported that the mean overall GPA for matriculants was 3.4 (Science: 3.2, Non-Science: 3.5), and the mean MCAT was 494.3.

• Graduates of DPM programs enter a secure, lucrative field that provides a solid work-life balance, with a humane number of working hours per week.

There are 11 accredited podiatry schools and the AACPM website is an excellent resource for information on them. They have breakdowns of each school's mission, special programs and services, demographics, and social media handles. We’ve included the list of schools below, along with average MCAT scores and GPAs for matriculants.

*Data reflects 2021 matriculating class

If you are interested in podiatric medicine and want to apply, you should plan to submit your application in August or early fall the year before you hope to matriculate (which will be your senior year if you plan to enter after graduation). AACPMAS begins processing primary applications in August for fall admission the following year. For priority consideration, AACPMAS says you should submit before March. While the final application deadline date is June 30th for fall admission of the same year, we don’t typically recommend submitting your application so late in the cycle.